


I've been losing sleep, dreaming about the things that we could be

by Darkmagyk, IaMcHrIsSi



Series: Counting Stars [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, another Star Wars AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-04
Updated: 2016-01-12
Packaged: 2018-05-11 11:41:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5625397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkmagyk/pseuds/Darkmagyk, https://archiveofourown.org/users/IaMcHrIsSi/pseuds/IaMcHrIsSi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The twin suns have set long ago, but Luke and Leia don’t want to go inside yet. It’s not like it’s cold here, in the desert, and since they’re still inside the safe borders of the farm, they don’t have to be afraid of the dangers of the desert.</p><p>Or: Luke and Leia grow up together on Tatooine, told in small scenes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The twin suns have set long ago, but Luke and Leia don’t want to go inside yet. It’s not like it’s cold here, in the desert, and since they’re still inside the safe borders of the farm, they don’t have to be afraid of the dangers of the desert.

Quietly, they sit on top of the little hut that contains all the droids, staring into the sky, their small hands linked together.

 _There are so many stars out there,_ Luke marvels. He doesn’t need to say the words out loud for Leia to understand him. He never did. As long as they can remember, they have been able to communicate like this.

 _Of course there are, stupid. The galaxy is really big after all._ Leia tells him, with fond extrasparation in her thoughts. She always tries to be the reasonable one.

 _But… the galaxy is so huge! So many stars, that means that there are even more planets, and so many places we will never get to see!_ Luke thinks, with all the exitability of the ten year old he is, and Leia can’t help but feel a bit exited, too. Just a bit.

 _Well, when we are older, we could go and try to visit at least some of them._ She thinks, and puts her head on her brothers shoulder. He immediately pulls her close, putting his head over hers.

 _We’ll be famous adventurers, going where no one has ever gone before!_ Luke tells her, and Leia snorts. Sometimes, he can be very adorable.

 _There must have been dozens of people who have done that before. Have you ever read about any of them?_ She reasons, but Luke doesn’t seem bothered by that at all.

 _Well, we don’t need to be famous. It’d be enough if it was just the two of us, together, finding all those planets and seeing all those cool things. We’d spend years and years traveling, never apart._ Luke thinks, and Leia has to smile. It _is_ a nice thought, for them to be stay together always.

 _We’d be together forever, like the twin suns of Tatooine._ She thinks, and Luke squeezes her shoulder. She can’t think of ever leaving Luke, can’t think of even spending a day without him, but she knows that one day, they will have to. Even if it’s just for work or something like that.

 _Yes. And every day we’d be seeing something new, finding all the amazing things that must be there to find._ Leia knows that Luke smiles as he thinks that, and can’t help but smile herself.

Together, they stay on the roof, staring into the sky and marveling it’s possibilities.


	2. Chapter 2

The air conditioner makes a strange noise, but then the typical humming starts again, indicating that it works again. As well as it did before, at least. Luke grins. They won't be cooking in their beds tonight, so that's something.

“Would you give me the plate, Luke?” Aunt Beru asks from her place in the kitchen. She's speaking the language of their people, as she always does when it's just the two of them. Uncle Owen doesn'T speak it, because he's not a child of the desrert like they are, so they don't speak it when he's around. But in moments like this, Aunt Beru enjoys letting the harsh sounds of the deserts roll of her tongue just as much as Luke enjoys hearing them. He moves with a smile, towering over her as he has ever since he turned 14 and hit a growth spurt. Not that he is that tall, really, not compared to people outside the family, but next to Aunt Beru _(and Leia, though he'd never tell her that)_ he does look pretty tall.

“Sure, Aunt Beru.” He says as he reaches up, taking the surprisingly heavy blue plate and putting it in front of his aunt. She is cooking dinner, rice with Alcani, one of the traditional dishes of their people, which she learned from her father, and which, in turn, she has taught Luke and Leia.

Luke takes out a knife and cuts the Kana roots into tiny slices, and Aunt Beru smiles approvingly. Luke enjoys helping her with the cooking, much more than Leia ever did. Aunt Beru always says that Leia lacks the patience for it.

“Could you tell your sister that dinner is finshed soon, and ask if her and own are going to come home soon?” Aunt Beru asks, and Luke closes his eyes, reaching out to the warm, bright presence that's always in the back of his mind.

_Dinner time, sister dearest,_ he calls out silently.  _Bring Uncle Owen._

A warm feeling engulfs him, slightly annoyed but loving, nontheless. His sister is answering with both words and emotion. _We're on our way. Three vaps have given out again, we'll have to fix that later. And put up some better defenses. This is the third time this month._

_We'll figure something out,_ Luke sends, projecting calm and peace for his sister like the Wise Woman taught him. Leia answers with a slightly rueful, amused _I know._

“They are on their way. Three of the vaporaters are down, but we'll look into it this evening.” Luke relays. Aunt Beru sighs.

“We should probably get a droid for help.” She says. Luke doesn't argue, a droid would be great. But he knows _(of course he knows)_ that they really can't afford it. Droids are expensive, and the last season did not go that well for the farm.

Not that it went any better for the other farms close by. Camie's mother had to postpone her visit in the hospital because they simply did not have the money the doctors want, and the only reason that little Amee Stonewanderer didn't have to starve is that she had been send to another farm for dinner every day, every member of their community helping to make sure Amee was going to be okay.

“Maybe next season.” Luke says, and tries to sound as hopeful as he can. He wants few things more than to leave this dustball, but he won't tell his aunt that. She already knows.

Leia and Uncle Owen appear in the door, full of dust and sand. Leia is cursing in Huttese, earning herself a stern look from Aunt Beru, while Uncle Owen just glares at everything gruffly.

“Let's have dinner.” Aunt Beru says, and everyone sits down. Luke's hand finds Leia's, familiar and perfect, without a conscious thought, and Uncle Owen smiles at Aunt Beru. Luke smiles.


	3. Chapter 3

Aunt Beru always says that the desert is in their blood, that it's part of them, and Leia can certainly feel that. It's a pulse that goes through her veins, an energy she can't even begin to truly fathom. When she's running through the sands with Luke, hands clasped together, she thinks she can hear the Mother, old and powerful and warm and harsh and the deserts lady. She's screaming for freedom, for her people, Leia knows.

Uncle Owen doesn't hear the desert. All he sees and hears is the danger Leia and her brother are in, the memory of the raiders who murdered Grandmother, the stares of the Hutts who might one day remember that not long ago, the Skywalkers were slaves. Who might take Luke and Leia back to that.

There's a part of Leia that understands him very well. She grew up next to the slave quarters, the daughter of a slave, she knows her peoples lot. She knows what could happen to her, to her brother. She knows what did happen to Grandmother. But to her, that's only more of a reason to fight, to remember, to let the Mother guide her actions. She knows Luke agrees with her, as he does almost always.

But where Luke is gentle and kind, Leia is harsh and unforgiving. Where Luke is almost always willing to see the best in any given person (slavers being the only exception), Leia tends to see the worst. Where Luke collects stories, Leia collects slights against her people, to be weaponized when the fight starts.

Aunt Beru watches them worriedly, but unlike Uncle Owen, she never says anything. She knows why this is important. She knows that one day, they will rise up with the Mother's blessing, and strike down slavers left and right. She knows that this day will come.

And it will come sooner rather than later, Leia thinks. She can feel it when the community sits together to listen to Amee's stories, when the season was bad again, when some Imp accidently walks into their quarter of town. 

She can feel it in the desert itself, in the way it moves, in the way the storms blow through it, in the energy that surrounds everything. Amee calls it the Mother's grace, this energy. It makes Leia proud to know that she can feel it, can tap into it, even, to some extent. It's not that rare, for people to be able to do that. At least, among their people, the children of the desert, it isn't. Amee can do it, and little Kitser Sunrider can do it, too. There's loads of stories about people who can.

It's one of the things that no slaver is ever told. It's theirs, and one day, they will use it against the slavers.

Until then, though, Luke and Leia stay together on the farm, watching and listening to the desert and it's children, always vigilant, waiting for the fight. Hands clasped together, eyes wide open, they prepare.

**Author's Note:**

> Check us out on tumblr [lukeleiahan](http://lukeleiahan.tumblr.com/). [darkmagyk](http://darkmagyk.tumblr.com/).


End file.
